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The newly renovated Panaad Park and Stadium football field and track oval*Richard Malihan photosThe P104 million newly renovated Panaad Park and Stadium football field and track oval in Brgy. Mansilingan, Bacolod City, was inaugurated Thursday, March 30, in time for the opening of the Palarong Panlalawigan 2023 and the upcoming Panaad sa Negros Festival.Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson with Representatives Kiko Benitez, Mercedes Alvarez and Dino Yulo, and Board Members Manuel Frederick Ko, and Andrew Montelibano led the ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by the blessing of the sports facility.Spent for the repairs was P48 million for the oval, P24 million for the roofing and P32 million for the stadium, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.Als...

Visayas Command chief Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo (left) attends the Multi-Sector Advisory Board meeting chaired by Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma (right) on Wednesday, March 30.*PNA photoThere are 17 cities and municipalities in Negros Occidental included among the 158 election watchlist areas (EWAs) in the Visayas, Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, commander of the AFP Visayas Command (VISCOM), said Friday, March 31.It is an initial list that will be reassessed and validated as the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls in October draw near, he told DIGICAST NEGROS.The 17 local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental are Don Salvador Benedicto - area of concern; Silay City, Victorias City, Toboso, Binalbagan, Himamaylan City, Kabankalan City, Hinoba-an, Sipalay City, Isabela, La ...

Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) at the summit*Education stakeholders from 13 local government units and three private groups joined a Local School Boards Summit hosted by Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) in partnership with Synergeia Foundation Inc. in Talisay City on Thursday, March 30.The summit was held to look at the critical issues affecting student performance – participation, retention, cohort survival, reading comprehension, numeracy, stunting in children, and discuss challenges faced by the education sector in the province, Benitez said.Synergeia Foundation’s goal is to help transform leaders, institutions, communities to become sustainable partners towards achieving effective and efficient educational governance systems. ...

The area where the deadly rumble took place in Murcia.*PNP photoA policeman trying to pacify a fight and two civilians were stabbed dead outside a restobar in Barangay Salvacion, Murcia, Negros Occidental, 1:10 a.m. Friday, March 31.Two other policemen and the owner of Handi Seafood Restaurant, who also tried to stop the fight, were also injured, Maj. Marc Joeil Reclamado, Murcia police chief, said.Killed was PCpl Gabby Tamayo Castillo of La Carlota City, his companion Benedict Senosa Maguad of Murcia and restaurant customer Marvin Guardavilla of La Castellana.Injured were Castillo’s companions Staff Sgts. Namelou Sapuan, 35, of Murcia and Jaytie Misme, 35, of Valladolid; and restaurant owner Fernando Diaz, of Barangay Sta. Cruz, Murcia.The three suspects were identifie...

Police operatives recover belongings reportedly owned by suspects in the murder of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo.*Joint Task Force Negros photoGovernment operatives seized personal items belonging to the suspects in the March 4 murder of Governor Roel Degamo and eight others at a sugar mill compound in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, Thursday evening, the Joint Task Force Negros (JTFN) said Friday, March 31.The items were found with the use of a backhoe in the premises of HDJ-Bayawan Agri-Venture Corp. Tolong in Barangay Caranoche, Sta. Catalina, reportedly owned by former Negros Oriental governor Pryde Henry Teves.The recovered items included burned clothes, identification cards, automated teller machine cards, and assorted documents that reportedly belonged to some ide...

Pope FrancisTwo Negros bishops on Thursday, March 30, echoed the call for prayers for the immediate recovery of 86-year-old Pope Francis who has been hospitalized for treatment of a respiratory infection.“We join the whole Church in praying for the Holy Father,” Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon said.He called on the faithful in the Diocese of Bacolod to also pray for the Pope.San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said “We assure our beloved Pope Francis of our prayers for his fast recovery.”“Let us pray for Pope Francis as he undergoes treatment at the Gemelli Hospital here in Rome for respiratory infections (not Covid). He expresses his gratitude to all of us for our prayers and closeness with him in spirit," Fr. Greg Gaston, rector of the Pontificio Collegio Filippino in Ro...

“We need to act with urgency", Senator Risa Hontiveros says*Senator Risa Hontiveros called on the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) on Thursday, March 30, to promptly submit documents sought by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee for the investigation into the alleged government-sponsored sugar smuggling.The Senate Blue Ribbon committee is still waiting for more documents from the SRA before it starts the probe, its chairman Senator Francis Tolentino said on Wednesday.“I am counting on the commitment of Chair Tolentino to hear the sugar fiasco round two, and I have full faith that he will be as zealous as he was during the first sugar hearings,” Hontiveros said.Hontiveros is questioning the arrival of imported sugar into the country even before Sugar Order No. 6 allowing t...

Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante and Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson (l-r)*Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Thursday, March 30, that he takes inspiration from the support given him but it is too early to talk politics.The United Negros Alliance coalition with Love Negros remains strong, and will continue to support Lacson, Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante, UNegA secretary general, said on Sunday.Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez on Monday also denied that his son Victorias Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez will run against Lacson for governor in 2025.Lacson is a good friend and he will continue to support him, the Bacolod mayor said.The governor said he takes inspiration from the statement of Escalante that UNegA-led local governmen...

There were 103 political prisoners in Negros Island who joined an island-wide protest fast on Thursday.*Kapatid Negros photoNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said on Thursday, March 30, that if the assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo would lead to solving other extra-judicial killings his death would not have been in vain.He noted that previous killings in Negros Oriental are now being reviewed.“Any killings before that have had no solutions yet should be given attention and justice should be given to the families whom the deceased left behind,” he said.“It should not only be in one area but the whole country, “he said.The Negros Island Political Prisoners (NIPP) in a statement on Wednesday said they hope the probe into the Degamo killing will ope...

The New People’s Army (NPA) claimed responsibility on Thursday, March 30, for killing a barangay tanod at Sitio Tibobong, Brgy Quintin Remo in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental.Killed was Marvin Flores Caramihan, 50, who was riding on his motorcycle with his 6-year-old son when he was waylaid and shot on different parts of his body, including on his forehead that caused his instantaneous death, on Tuesday night, the police said earlier.Ka JB Regalado, NPA Leonardo Panaligan Command spokesperson, said they meted the death penalty on Caramihan whom he tagged as an alleged intelligence asset of the Philippine Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion.Regalado alleged that Caramihan was part of a group that killed a Quintin Remo resident and had used the name of the NPA for extortion activiti...